NASW Workshop: The Secret Life of Social Media

What you think you know about social media is probably wrong. This session will discuss how these tools actually operate, often at odds with promoted functions. Based on data collected and analyzed by panelists and online science publications, we will discuss Digg, reddit, StumbleUpon, Slashdot, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools (with background materials for the uninitiated).

33.
Outline<br />Principles of social media<br />Why understand how social media works?<br />New ways people get/share information<br />How we can use this knowledge<br />How social media really works<br />Examples of social sharing sites<br />

34.
Why understand social media?<br />As science writers, our trade is information<br />Information is increasingly flowing in new ways<br />We all need to really know how these mechanisms work if we are to take advantage of them (whether journalists, writers, or PIOs) <br />It gives us new ways to think about what we do<br />

36.
Getting information: the new way<br />“If the news is that important, it will find me.” – Anonymous college student in a focus groupNew York Times, March 27, 2008http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/politics/27voters.html<br />“This micro-knowledge of others has been termed ‘ambient awareness’ by sociologists, a new kind of social proprioception or ethereal limb, and I learned to flex it with ease.” (Referring to the world of Facebook status updates)New York Magazine, April 5, 2009 http://nymag.com/news/features/55878/ <br />

37.
Getting information: the new way<br />Converse with your friends and colleagues, A LOT!(in person, phone, email, txt msg, Facebook status, FriendFeed, tweet, LinkedIn update, etc.)<br />Let your trust of others guide you<br />Pick up on some of it and surf/search it further<br />Contribute to public discussions<br />Repeat<br />This is not an ideal, but an observation.<br />

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How we can use this knowledge<br />Changing information ecosystem Old: Authority relationships New: Trust relationships<br />Journalists: We can’t rely solely on the authoritativeness of our publications. Now we need to develop trust relationships with readers. How?<br />PIOs: We no longer just want to rely on the news media to reach audiences for us, but need to be active in developing relationships with other audiences ourselves. How?<br />

39.
Examples of social sharing sites<br />Many user-vote-driven sites seem to present the “best” stories, which rise to the top as people vote for them.<br />For digg, slashdot, reddit, stumbleupon, and facebook<br />What the site looks like<br />How stories really get to the top of the charts<br />A typical story’s traffic<br />An analogy<br />

40.
digg<br />

41.
digg traffic<br />

42.
digg is like…a gang<br />Strong but organic hierarchy<br />Dominance of an idea depends on who it comes from<br />Leaders cultivate support from underlings by offering links and help up rankings<br />Loyalty to the leader is key<br />Identity is defined by the role in the group<br />For success: Be in with the leaders, don’t cross the leaders<br />

43.
slashdot<br />

44.
slashdot traffic<br />

45.
slashdot is like…organized crime<br />Small tight group controls the flow of information<br />Outsiders are treated with some suspicion<br />Once you’re part of the family and know the people behind the curtain, you can get things done<br />/.’s “karma” system compared with OC status<br />Leaders still have absolute power<br />For success: Post good stuff to gain positive attention of the admins, cultivate their good graces<br />

46.
reddit<br />

47.
reddit traffic<br />

48.
reddit is like…an ADHD direct democracy<br />Any idea can get to the top BUT...<br />Many people need to respond positively to an idea rapidly or it will be forgotten<br />For success: Post things lots of people will like and can easily see the appeal of from the headline<br />

53.
facebook traffic<br />Occurs too rapidly to show day by day<br />Most in the first few minutes/hours, some residual over following days<br />Adds a steady amount of traffic to our site<br />Twitter is similar<br />Facebook+twitter send about 15% of traffic<br />

54.
facebook is like…a clique<br />Information circulates within peer groups<br />Information can spread to other groups through overlap, and ideas can revive and seem new again<br />For success: Have lots of friends and know what they like<br />

55.
Conclusion<br />Social media both drives and reflects a changing information ecosystem—it has new rules<br />Things are not always what they seem, so dig(g) a little deeper and never trust what anybody says about social media (not even me)<br />If you’re not playing the game enough to know the rules, you’re not going win in the future<br />

56.
Robot Sharks with Lasers and the Magic Traffic Machine<br />We like Reddit bites (they’re better than Delicious), because they max out the wiki snarls of RSS feeds, which means less jamming at the Google scaffold. Then just Digg your uploads in a viral spiral to your social networks via an FB/MS interlink torrent.<br />“Our Marketing Plan”<br />Ellis Weiner in the The New Yorker<br />

57.
Learn the Norms, Get the Traffic<br />“Twitter is not a community, but it&apos;s an ecology in which communities can emerge. That&apos;s where the banal chit-chat comes in: idle talk about news, weather, and sports is a kind of social glue that can adhere the networks of trust and norms of reciprocity from which community and social capital can grow.”<br />— Howard Rheingold<br />